Imperial Consort Lan strolled out of the bathing room and her maidservants immediately went to guide her to the sitting area in the dining room. The maidservants have all assembled neatly in a line on Imperial Consort Lan's right and they all had their heads bowed. These are the rules taught to all maidservants the moment they enter the palace to work.
Servants are not allowed to look at their masters unless given permission.
One of the maidservants entered with a coat and put it onto Imperial Consort Lan before retreating back to the line. There are a total of ten maidservants standing in front of her and other than one, the rest of them are unfamiliar.
After her promotion, the Emperor had sent a few maidservants to serve her. His excuse was that her palace is too lacking for an Imperial Consort and she had wanted to retort that she only had one maidservant to take care of her when she was a noble lady which is lesser than a talented lady who has at least two.
The maidservant that had served her since her first day in the palace is named Lin. Most of the time, Imperial Consort Lan would call her Ah-Lin. This little brat had done her best to take care of her, cried for her, defended her when she was bullied and comforted her when things got hard. Although Imperial Consort Lan does not show it, she treats Ah-Lin as her family.
"Mistress, please have some soup." The last maidservant under Imperial Consort Lan entered the room with a tray of steaming soup. Imperial Consort Lan looked up at her as she placed the soup before her and handed her a clean spoon.
Taking the spoon from her, the maidservant retreated to the end of the line and waited along with the others silently, her smirk not missed by Imperial Consort Lan's sharp gaze.
It must be a trap.
These servants are not originally from her palace so it is natural that there will be spies but Imperial Consort Lan is more interested in which palace mistress are they serving behind her backs.
Imperial Consort Lan had never wanted these maidservants that the Emperor imposed onto her. She is not the type to have many people serve her. Even back in her home before she got married, she only had a maidservant and Xue to help her with her daily routines.
After the increase of maids, she had Xue to take note of each one of the maidservants' movements and as expected, there were quite a few spies. Since one of them has already acted, there is no need for Imperial Consort Lan to give any sort of mercy.
Being kind towards your enemies is being cruel to oneself.
Imperial Consort Lan eyed the silver spoon and noted that it was clean. That means there is nothing wrong with the spoon, no poison of any sort. She then scooped some soup with the silver spoon and saw no changes with the silver. The maidservant that handed her the soup fidgeted nervously as she eyed Imperial Consort Lan who was about to drink from the soup.
Just a little bit more. As long as she drinks the soup, everything will work well for her. Her days will be easier as she will be promoted as promised and if she is lucky, she might even become one of the Emperor's women.
The maid servant's ambitious glint in her eyes was obvious. Imperial Consort Lan said nothing as she laid down the spoon without taking a single sip.
"This soup is poisoned," Imperial Consort Lan's cold voice rang all the alarms in that maidservant's head and she panicked. Dropping down to her knees, she shook her head.
"Mistress, this humble servant does not know anything." The maidservant cried pitifully as she crawled on her knees and grabbed the hems of Imperial Consort Lan's dress.
"Ah-Lin, search her body." Ah-Lin immediately grabbed the kneeling maidservant and nimbly searched her body for anything suspicious. She quickly found an embroidered pouch that bears her initials. Ah-Lin handed the pouch over to her mistress and stood by her side, awaiting her orders.
Imperial Consort Lan looked over the pouch and opened it but there was nothing inside. Imperial Consort Lan pondered as she felt the fabric and sniffed the scent the pouch was giving off and smirked at the kneeling maidservant.
"A lowly maidservant can afford such a pretty pouch, I wonder where you get this from." Imperial Consort Lan's words sent chills down the maid servant's spine as she quickly tried to think of an excuse.
"I- This was given to me by- my sister-" the maidservant stumbled her words as she racked her brains for some ideas but Imperial Consort Lan did not give her time to think.
"I didn't know Concubine Chu is your sister," Imperial Consort Lan snorted at the kneeling maidservant.
"This servant was forced to do this. Imperial Consort Lan is known to be kind among the servants, please spare this pitiful servant!" The maidservant kowtows loudly as she begged for her life. However, it was not sincere. The maidservant knew the rumors that had been going around the Imperial Harem for a long time.
Noble Lady Lan was married in from a noble family of high standing in the capital but has no backbone.
Noble Lady Lan is easy to push around.
That day a lowly concubine dared to spill tea all over her dress and she could only endure it.
The servants in her courtyard don't even give a damn about her. They don't clean up the palace and sometimes they don't even give her food.
The maidservant knew that with Imperial Consort Lan's cowardly personality, she probably will not lay down a hard punishment. At most she might deduct her salary for a month?
But Imperial Consort Lan's next words shattered her delusions.
"Guards, drag her out and kill her. Make her an example for all of the servants serving in my palace," Imperial Consort Lan ordered but none of the servants came forward at her order.
The maidservant smirked and raised her head. "Imperial Consort Lan, don't say this servant didn't tell you but none of the servants in your palace are under your control."
"Most of the servants here are under Concubine Chu and other Imperial Consorts' command, Imperial Consort Lan should act according to the situation and not give others so much trouble. Just stick to reading books and guard an empty bedchamber with your sick body just like before and nobody will want you dead. It's all your fault, you should have continued to lay low. Instead, you want to fight for the Emperor's favor? Just based on your abilities? Aren't you being too arrogant?" Seeing that Imperial Consort Lan did not say a word, the maid servant's choice of words got bolder.
"Are those Concubine Chu's words or your own?" Imperial Consort Lan waited until the maidservant was done before she spoke.
"This maidservant serves her Highness Concubine Chu, us servants naturally act upon our mistress's will." The maidservant replied haughtily, her hands on her hips.
"I see. Xue, kill all the servants in the courtyard except for this one. I want her, alive."
Upon hearing her words, Xue swiftly acted and his sword sliced through the necks of all servants. Blood spurted and screams ensured. Those who were still alive ran but they did not manage to get far before their heads were separated from their bodies and one by one, slowly but surely, they fell onto the floor, dead.
The bold maidservant laid on the floor with her face pale. She cannot believe that the pushover Imperial Consort Lan would be capable of this much bloodshed. The blood drained from her face and her eyes rolled up as she fainted from the bloody scene.
The entire Cloud Palace was bathed in blood and it was a massacre. Imperial Consort Lan stood at the entrance, her figure tall and proud as she stared at the entire blood-filled courtyard. Her only-trusted maidservant, Ah-Lin stood next to her, trembling slightly at the horrifying sight. However, she did not falter.
The moment she was assigned to serve her mistress, she vowed to stand by her side. This does not change when her mistress was a noble lady nor when she is an Imperial Consort. Her loyal heart was seen by Imperial Consort Lan which is why she was kept alive. Even Xue approves of her and Imperial Consort Lan thinks that they might make good friends or if possible, a good pair as well.
That aside, with this much bloodshed in her palace, there are bound to be unpleasant rumors. Imperial Consort Lan ordered Ah-Lin to clean up the entire courtyard and send word to the people in-charge of servants that Imperial Consort Lan will personally visit and handpick her maidservants in a few days. Xue finished up his job and he landed nimbly before Imperial Consort Lan.
Imperial Consort Lan nodded in satisfaction before she told him to tie that spy sent by Concubine Chu and wait for a great play to start.